Media launch featuring a Miracle Fruit Flavour-Tripping party, which was held in "Skytower" Auckland NZ for the launch of the restaurant charity DINEAID. By adding just $2 extra to the bill, New Zealand restaurant-goers can make a big difference this Christmas.

Being slightly hypoglycemic, my ears perk up when I get wind of a new natural sweetener. On Mercola.com last week, I read about one made from a West African berry called Synsepalum dulcificum, sometimes called the miracle fruit.

The miracle or miraculous fruit (Synsepalum dulcificum Daniell ex S. Bell) is a large evergreen shrub in the Sapotaceae, the sapodilla family. The shrub is native to tropical West Africa where it is variously called taami, ledidi, and asaa.

Mmm Magic Berries. (I prefer that name for it.) Today i received some Miracle Fruit in the mail, and after much research and curiosity, did a bit of grocery shopping for bitter/sour foods, and then came the ultimate test (these tiny berries turn anything sour/bitter SWEET)! Pictures galore after the jump… and for those who haven’t heard of these magic berries, here’s the short version of their magic powers and background.

Today's center column on the front page of the Wall Street Journal is all about this blog's favorite berry, miracle fruit. I held a tasting of the fruit for friends a few weeks ago. In a weird sequence of events, what I expected to be a small group of foodies turned into a sizeable party, and one of the guests was none other than the reporter writing this article.

ARLINGTON, Va. — At a party here one recent Friday, Jacob Grier stood on a chair, pulled out a plastic bag full of small berries, and invited everyone to eat one apiece. “Make sure it coats your tongue,” he said.

Tokyo dieters with a sweet tooth can enjoy cakes and fruit ices with minimal sugar and no artificial sweeteners at a new cafe that opened last week. The desserts are unpalatably sour in taste, but customers are instructed to chew on an African berry, called “miracle fruit,” which contains a protein that causes the taste buds to temporarily sense sour as sweet.

Miracle fruit is an obscure fruit that alters one's sense of taste, masking bitter and especially sour flavors, causing lemons, limes, beers, and lots of other things to taste amazingly good. After reading about it on the Web and tracking down a source, my friend held an extensive tasting party.

Miracle fruit is not mind-blowing, but it's very, very cool. If you have the choice, go for the magic mushrooms, but otherwise miracle fruit is one of the weirdest food-induced experiences one can have. It's like some weird new experiment from Willy Wonka's factory, only Willy Wonka is some shady horticulturist from Fort Lauderdale known to the world only through his cryptic messages on obscure gardening blogs.

Gollner traveled around the world in search of what he calls the forgotten histories of fruit. Among his discoveries: the “miracle berry,” a cranberry-like fruit that turns sour into sweet, but for questionable reasons—including possible conflicts with corporate interests—has yet to reach American consumers.

Discussion of Miracle Fruit uses! All Things Considered, March 31, 2007. It's a tiny berry. But it works miracles when you eat it before sour foods. Lemons instantly turn from sour to sweet. Even a bologna sandwich turns to cake.

Author Adam Leith Gollner is currently writing a book about the miracle fruit and provides a history of the berry.